A Nevada Wolf Pack helmet sits on the sidelines of the Oct. 16, 2021 game versus University of Hawaii. Knuth has hired many different positions for Nevada’s top sports, including football, baseball and basketball.
Doug Knuth, now former athletic director, will no longer be serving in his position after being announced on April 20.
“The University of Nevada, Reno is moving in a new direction with Intercollegiate Athletics,” stated as reason in a press release sent out by the university.
Nevada Athletics is starting a national search for the position effective immediately. While on the search for a new athletic director, Sandoval looks back at the hard work Knuth put into his job at the university.
“I wish to thank Doug Knuth for the many positive steps he made as our athletic director for the past 10 years,” Sandoval said in the email. “Wolf Pack athletics is embraced by our community. Doug’s leadership was instrumental in achieving many program milestones.”
Knuth started at Nevada in 2013, and he recently signed a contract in 2018 to stay with the university until June 2023.
During Knuth’s time at Nevada, he has hired multiple different coaches across Nevada’s major sports. These coaches include Jay Norvell and Ken Willson for football, Eric Musselman and Steve Alford for men’s basketball, Amanda Levens for women’s basketball and T.J. Bruce for baseball.
There have been many accomplishments for Nevada teams under Knuth’s administration. Eight Mountain team titles have been – including four with Musselman, three for baseball and on for women’s swim and dive.
Now, Bill Johnson, vice president for advancement, will hold the position on interim starting May 1. Brian Sandoval, president of UNR, chose Johnson to fill the position until they hire a new full-time athletic director.
Johnson has more than 31 years of experience in higher education and a total of 14 years experience in intercollegiate athletics, Johnson has served roles in administration, development and coaching across multiple different conferences — Big 12 Conference, the Big East Conference, the West Coast Conference and the Ivy League.
Kelsey Middleton can be reached at kelseymiddleton@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter @sportsbykels
